She will also say that she wants to bolster the role of pension trustees to give workers and retirees more of a "voice" in the future of the companies which hold their life savings.

Ministers will consider plans to increase the proportion of pension trustees who are nominated by workers and give them more power to halt takeovers if there are concerns about the suitability of investors.

The Prime Minister has hit out at company bosses who “game the system” amid outcry at the behaviour of Sir Philip Green over the collapse of BHS, which affected 11,000 employees. Credit:
PA/PA

It follows an outcry at the behaviour of Sir Philip Green over the collapse of BHS, which put the savings of 20,000 members at risk.

Earlier this year MPs branded the retailer the "unacceptable face of capitalism" for failing to address the company's pensions deficit after accruing hundreds of millions of pounds in dividends.

Sir Philip subsequently sold BHS for £1 to a Dominic Chappell, a former bankrupt with no retail experience in March 2015.

BHS then collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs and left behind a pension scheme that had a shortfall of about £570million.

Mrs May’s predecessor, David Cameron, did reform rules around executive pay during his premiership with support from his Coalition partners the Liberal Democrats. Credit:
AFP/AFP

Mrs May said: “The growth of our privately held companies should be celebrated and supported as they are a vital part of our strong economy.

“So we will explore ways to improve and extend good governance across big business so that everybody plays by the same rules and we create an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.”

Mrs May will unveil plans in a green paper to extend the UK Corporate Governance Code to private companies such as the retail giant Arcadia, which is run by Sir Philip Green.

The code states that executives must "promote long-term success" of the company and that bonuses should be "transparent".

Mrs May’s economic policy has been compared to Ed Miliband's focus in a number of areas, leading to the former Labour leader himself to joke about the similarities on Twitter. Credit:
FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Companies will also be required to appoint a majority of independent directors and minute board meetings. A consultation will also ask whether more can be done to "empower" pension beneficiaries.

At present, workers and retired staff can only nominate a third of the pension trustees, but there have been calls for a minimum of half to be nominated to improve accountability.

Ministers will also examine plans to give pension trustees a more significant role when companies are sold or taken over.

The Pensions Regulator has been calling for the power to veto takeovers if it has concerns about the impact on workers life-savings.

MPs are later this year expected to recommend that trustees should be able to raise concerns with the regulator, which should then be able to put mergers or takeovers on hold.

The green paper will include proposals to force companies to put worker representatives on remuneration committees, which scrutinise pay, and give shareholders the power to veto pay packages of business leaders in an annual binding vote.

Mrs May will also announce a "bespoke" code of practice for Britain's largest companies, and additional requirements for them to publish details about diversity, greenhouse gas emissions and social and community issues.